The William H. Gross Collection of British Empire

William H. Gross has held many titles throughout his professional and personal career, not the least of which is philatelist. Mr. Gross began collecting as a child at the prodding of his mother. As with many young philatelists, time turned his attention from stamps to school, career and family. As an adult, with a successful career and wonderful family, his childhood hobby resurfaced in the early 1990's and he began collecting again. With his passion for philately rekindled, he concentrated heavily on the Ryohei Ishikawa sale of 1993, where he acquired some very important items for his collection. Over the next 16 years he has meticulously assembled one of the most important Worldwide Stamp and Postal History collections ever formed. In fact, his collection of United States Classics, 1847 – 1869 garnered him numerous prestigious philatelic awards and ultimately the Grand Prix National in Washington 2006.

In June of 2007 Mr. Gross, along with his wife Sue, decided to sell one of his many foreign collections at auction through Spink Shreves Galleries. The now famous sale of his marvelous Great Britain collection attracted news headlines from around the world – not only due to the fact that it set the record for the highest realization ever for a single stamp auction ($9.1M hammer), but more importantly they generously donated the entire sale proceeds to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

The Gross’ continued their generosity with the May 2008 sale of his wonderful Scandinavia collection, with all of the proceeds benefiting the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute (www.millenniumvillages.org). Its successful sale has prompted them to sell another portion of his collection – this time his British Empire – and together they have decided to have all of the sales proceeds once again benefit the Millennium Villages Project.

Mr. Gross will continue collecting, buying, selling, “swapping” and exhibiting stamps as this is truly a life-long hobby for him, while also continuing as Founder and co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO. He has been associated with PIMCO since its inception in 1971 and currently oversees the management of over $750 billion of fixed income securities. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the bond market and has frequently appeared in national publications and media. Additionally, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from the UCLA Graduate School of Business. He and his family live in Laguna Beach, California.

“The commitment to philanthropy that Bill and Sue Gross continue to demonstrate is an inspiration to us all. Their generous acts have already prompted several other philatelists to sell portions of their collections to benefit charity. This fact alone pleases the Gross family to know their actions have started a trend among philatelists to share their blessings with others far less fortunate.”

– Charles and Tracy Shreve




	The William H. Gross Collection of British Empire William H. Gross has held many titles throughout his professional and personal career, not the least of which is philatelist. Mr. Gross began collecting as a child at the prodding of his mother. As with many young philatelists, time turned his attention from stamps to school, career and family. As an adult, with a successful career and wonderful family, his childhood hobby resurfaced in the early 1990's and he began collecting again. With his passion for philately rekindled, he concentrated heavily on the Ryohei Ishikawa sale of 1993, where he acquired some very important items for his collection. Over the next 16 years he has meticulously assembled one of the most important Worldwide Stamp and Postal History collections ever formed. In fact, his collection of United States Classics, 1847 – 1869 garnered him numerous prestigious philatelic awards and ultimately the Grand Prix National in Washington 2006. In June of 2007 Mr. Gross, along with his wife Sue, decided to sell one of his many foreign collections at auction through Spink Shreves Galleries. The now famous sale of his marvelous Great Britain collection attracted news headlines from around the world – not only due to the fact that it set the record for the highest realization ever for a single stamp auction ($9.1M hammer), but more importantly they generously donated the entire sale proceeds to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. The Gross’ continued their generosity with the May 2008 sale of his wonderful Scandinavia collection, with all of the proceeds benefiting the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute (www.millenniumvillages.org). Its successful sale has prompted them to sell another portion of his collection – this time his British Empire – and together they have decided to have all of the sales proceeds once again benefit the Millennium Villages Project. Mr. Gross will continue collecting, buying, selling, “swapping” and exhibiting stamps as this is truly a life-long hobby for him, while also continuing as Founder and co-Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO. He has been associated with PIMCO since its inception in 1971 and currently oversees the management of over $750 billion of fixed income securities. He is the author of numerous articles and books on the bond market and has frequently appeared in national publications and media. Additionally, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from the UCLA Graduate School of Business. He and his family live in Laguna Beach, California. “The commitment to philanthropy that Bill and Sue Gross continue to demonstrate is an inspiration to us all. Their generous acts have already prompted several other philatelists to sell portions of their collections to benefit charity. This fact alone pleases the Gross family to know their actions have started a trend among philatelists to share their blessings with others far less fortunate.” – Charles and Tracy Shreve
	800.556.STAMP (7826) \| shreves@spink.com \| www.spinkshreves.com ©2008 Spink Shreves Galleries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.